Governing A Service Oriented Architecture

Abstract

Methods and systems for governing a service oriented architecture (‘SOA’) are disclosed that include planning for implementation of an SOA governance model for governing a business's SOA including identifying compliance requirements for the SOA; defining the SOA governance model in accordance with the identified compliance requirements; enabling the defined SOA governance model; and measuring effectiveness of the enabled SOA governance model.

1 . A method of governing a Service Oriented Architecture (‘SOA’), the method comprising:
 planning for implementation of an SOA governance model for governing a business's SOA including identifying compliance requirements for the SOA;   defining the SOA governance model in accordance with the identified compliance requirements including:
 identifying any needed organizational changes in the business; 
 identifying any needed information technology architectural changes for the business; and 
 selecting metrics for measuring the effectiveness of the governance model; 
   enabling the defined SOA governance model including:
 implementing a transition plan; 
 initiating any needed identified organizational changes in the business; and 
 implementing any needed identified information technology architectural changes for the business; and 
   measuring effectiveness of the enabled SOA governance model including:
 assigning values to the selected metrics; and 
 determining, in dependence upon the values of the selected metrics, the effectiveness of the enabled SOA governance model. 
   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein planning for the implementation of an SOA governance model for governing business's SOA further comprises:
 determining a current state of the business's SOA including gathering available SOA documentation and organizational documentation;   identifying any current information technology governance capabilities currently available for implementing the SOA governance model; and   defining a scope of the SOA governance model.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2  wherein determining a current state of the business's SOA including gathering available SOA documentation and organizational documentation further comprises:
 identifying business principles of the business for use in the SOA governance model;   identifying information technology principles of the business for use in the SOA governance model; and   determining the effectiveness of current information technology governance procedures in governing current business principles and current information technology principles.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2  wherein identifying any current information technology governance capabilities currently available for implementing the SOA governance model further comprises:
 determining, in dependence upon a Control Objectives for Information and related Technology (‘COBIT’) framework, existing governance capabilities of the business;   determining, in dependence upon a Service Integration Maturity Model (‘SIMM’), existing governance capabilities of the business; and   conducting a change readiness survey to identify existing information technology governance capabilities.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2  wherein defining a scope of the SOA governance model further comprises:
 identifying processes to be governed according to the business's SOA governance model; and   identifying prospective governance mechanisms, the prospective governance mechanisms capable of administering SOA governance processes that govern the identified governed processes.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  wherein defining the SOA governance model in accordance with the identified compliance requirements further comprises:
 refining the business's existing SOA principles;   modifying the business's existing governance model for SOA;   defining SOA governance processes for the business's SOA governance model, the SOA governance processes comprising processes that govern a set of governed processes in a business's SOA;   defining governed processes for the business's SOA governance model, each governed process capable of governing a portion of a business's SOA, each governed processes governed by one or more SOA governance processes;   defining governance tools for executing one or more of the SOA governance processes; and   creating one or more SOA governance plans.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6  wherein refining the business's existing SOA principles further comprises:
 updating the business's existing SOA business principles according to a business's SOA vision; and   updating the business's existing SOA information technology principles according to the business's SOA vision.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 6  wherein defining governed processes for the business's SOA governance model further comprises:
 selecting, from a preconfigured set of prospective governed processes in dependence upon a business's SOA vision, one or more prospective governed processes to be used as governed processes in the business's SOA governance model;   developing, in dependence upon the business's SOA vision, one or more additional governed processes to be used as governed process in the business's SOA governance model;   defining, for each selected and developed governed process, a policy for managing the governed process; and   defining, for each governed process in dependence upon the governed processes defined policy, metrics for measuring the effectiveness of the governed process.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 6  wherein defining governance tools for executing one or more of the SOA governance processes further comprises:
 identifying one or more of the business's current governance tools currently employed by the business;   modifying one or more of the identified governance tools for use as governance tools for executing the business's SOA governance model;   establishing one or more of the identified governance tools as governance tools for executing one or more SOA governance processes;   establishing one or more additional governance tools for use as governance tools for executing one or more SOA governance processes, the additional governance tools not currently employed in the business's existing governance model; and   defining metrics for measuring the effectiveness of each of the governance tools for executing one or more SOA governance processes.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 6  wherein creating one or more SOA governance plans further comprises:
 creating an SOA governance support plan;   creating an organizational change management plan including establishing one or more metrics for measuring effectiveness of an organization defined according to an organization change management plan; and   creating an SOA transition plan.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1  wherein enabling the defined SOA governance model further comprises:
 executing an SOA transition plan;   executing an organizational change management plan;   implementing governance mechanisms for administering one or more SOA governance processes that govern one or more governed processes;   implementing governance tools for executing one or more SOA governance processes; and   executing, by the governance mechanisms through use of governance tools, one or more SOA governance processes.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1  wherein measuring effectiveness of the enabled SOA governance model in governing the business's SOA further comprises:
 during governance of the business's SOA according to the enabled SOA governance model:   gathering metrics describing effectiveness of SOA governance processes;   gathering metrics describing effectiveness of governed processes;   gathering metrics describing effectiveness of governance tools;   gathering metrics describing the effectiveness of organizations defined according to the business's organization change management plan; and   modifying, in dependence upon the gathered metrics, the business's SOA governance model.   
     
     
         13 . A system for governing a Service Oriented Architecture (‘SOA’), the system comprising:
 means for planning for implementation of an SOA governance model for governing a business's SOA including identifying compliance requirements for the SOA;   means for defining the SOA governance model in accordance with the identified compliance requirements including means for:
 identifying any needed organizational changes in the business; 
 identifying any needed information technology architectural changes for the business; and 
 selecting metrics for measuring the effectiveness of the governance model; 
   means for enabling the defined SOA governance model including means for:
 implementing a transition plan; 
 initiating any needed identified organizational changes in the business; and 
 implementing any needed identified information technology architectural changes for the business; and 
   means for measuring effectiveness of the enabled SOA governance model including means for:
 assigning values to the selected metrics; and 
 determining, in dependence upon the values of the selected metrics, the effectiveness of the enabled SOA governance model. 
   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13  wherein means for planning for the implementation of an SOA governance model for governing business's SOA further comprises means for:
 determining a current state of the business's SOA including gathering available SOA documentation and organizational documentation;   identifying any current information technology governance capabilities currently available for implementing the SOA governance model; and   defining a scope of the SOA governance model.   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14  wherein determining a current state of the business's SOA including gathering available SOA documentation and organizational documentation further comprises means for:
 identifying business principles of the business for use in the SOA governance model;   identifying information technology principles of the business for use in the SOA governance model; and   determining the effectiveness of current information technology governance procedures in governing current business principles and current information technology principles.   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 14  wherein identifying any current information technology governance capabilities currently available for implementing the SOA governance model further comprises means for:
 determining, in dependence upon a Control Objectives for Information and related Technology (‘COBIT’) framework, existing governance capabilities of the business;   determining, in dependence upon a Service Integration Maturity Model (‘SIMM’), existing governance capabilities of the business; and   conducting a change readiness survey to identify existing information technology governance capabilities.   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 13  wherein means for defining the SOA governance model in accordance with the identified compliance requirements further comprises means for:
 refining the business's existing SOA principles;   modifying the business's existing governance model for SOA;   defining SOA governance processes for the business's SOA governance model, the SOA governance processes comprising processes that govern a set of governed processes in a business's SOA;   defining governed processes for the business's SOA governance model, each governed process capable of governing a portion of a business's SOA, each governed processes governed by one or more SOA governance processes;   defining governance tools for executing one or more of the SOA governance processes; and   creating one or more SOA governance plans.   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 18  wherein refining the business's existing SOA principles further comprises means for:
 updating the business's existing SOA business principles according to a business's SOA vision; and   updating the business's existing SOA information technology principles according to the business's SOA vision.   
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18  wherein creating one or more SOA governance plans further comprises means for:
 creating an SOA governance support plan;   creating an organizational change management plan including establishing one or more metrics for measuring effectiveness of an organization defined according to an organization change management plan; and   creating an SOA transition plan.   
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 13  wherein means for enabling the defined SOA governance model further comprises means for:
 executing an SOA transition plan;   executing an organizational change management plan;   implementing governance mechanisms for administering one or more SOA governance processes that govern one or more governed processes;   implementing governance tools for executing one or more SOA governance processes; and   executing, by the governance mechanisms through use of governance tools, one or more SOA governance processes.   
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 13  wherein means for measuring effectiveness of the enabled SOA governance model in governing the business's SOA further comprises means for:
 during governance of the business's SOA according to the enabled SOA governance model:   gathering metrics describing effectiveness of SOA governance processes;   gathering metrics describing effectiveness of governed processes;   gathering metrics describing effectiveness of governance tools;   gathering metrics describing the effectiveness of organizations defined according to the business's organization change management plan; and   modifying, in dependence upon the gathered metrics, the business's SOA governance model.